Northern Irish Screwed Over 3G Coverage and Broadband Speeds

Unfortunately not everywhere within our union is equal when it comes to fixed and mobile broadband. It seems Northern Ireland, in particular, is getting screwed according to a recent Ofcom report.

While the rest of the UK enjoys a good-ish 95 per cent 3G coverage, poor ol'Norn Iron suffers with only 54 per cent 3G coverage. It's 2011, not 2003, and everyone pays the same for their contracts, so just over half the country is pretty poor.

Fixed-line broadband is a bit of a mixed bag in Northern Ireland too. While the average speed in Belfast is a pretty decent 8.9Mbps, ranked with the highest availability of 'super-fast' services (those over 24Mbps) in the UK -- a quarter of users without access to super-fast broadband can't even get 2Mbps.

You can browse Ofcom's interactive map for more details about areas in the UK, including Northern Ireland, or read the whole report (PDF) if you're super keen. What are your experiences with broadband in Northern Ireland and other provinces of the UK? What speed are you really getting? [Ofcom (PDF) via BBC]